Anthology - is it staying or going?

[Bongomeme]

Any idea if this replacement will continue to be an up charge?  Dr C, you were just in time with American Father’s Day, great dad jokes! 

[happy cruzin]

On 6/13/2024 at 6:28 AM, uktog said:

Thanks that’s great news - is this for Explora 2 or both ships?

Both....I hope!

 

[Waltershipman]

On 6/13/2024 at 6:58 AM, Dr. Cocktail said:

Antholo-Gino’s?

 

Antony-gy?

 

Pastology?

Hope it is in place for january 2025

[Hlitner]

29 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

Hope it is in place for january 2025

Did you dine there, back in the fall?

 

Hank

[Waltershipman]

40 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Did you dine there, back in the fall?

 

Hank

We did not  and I have followed your posts and others about the venue

 

Best to you 

[Hlitner]

2 minutes ago, Waltershipman said:

We did not  and I have followed your posts and others about the venue

 

Best to you 

Ahhh, so you will get a different chef.  Wonder who?

[Waltershipman]

12 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Ahhh, so you will get a different chef.  Wonder who?

I wonder as well and hope to dine there

[RafikiJames]

The website has now been updated to reflect the change from a ‘guest-chef’ to a fine dining Italian restaurant. It remains non-inclusive with a charge of €140 pp. 

 

https://explorajourneys.com/uk/en/life-on-explora/dining/anthology

[Hlitner]

On 6/12/2024 at 10:33 AM, Lenbro1944 said:

Instead of starting a new topic I will pose my question here. For those who have eaten at Anthology what was you opinion and was it worth the extra expense?We will probably  have obc to use.

We thought it was worth it to have Chef "Emma" cook for us (and 6 others).  Without the Guest Chef aboard, we would rate it as something akin to a rip-off.  I will add that we see no reason why EJ could not make it a multi-purpose venue.  They could still have an Anthology concept during times they have a real Guest Chef, and otherwise, perhaps an Italian venue.  For those who have not seen the venue, they have their own impressive galley, which can be viewed, by diners, through a glass wall.  We thought it a good way to use our OBC.

 

Hank

[PrivateIdaho]

200€ pp up charge? Probably still gonna be a pass for us. Would rather experience a local Michelin ⭐️ restaurant while in port. Don’t really see how this change addresses the problem with Anthology. Not enough guest willing to pay these prices for cruise food. Yes, EJ’s food is excellent, but it is still cruise food. 

[Dr. Cocktail]

1 minute ago, PrivateIdaho said:

200€ pp up charge? Probably still gonna be a pass for us. Would rather experience a local Michelin ⭐️ restaurant while in port. Don’t really see how this change addresses the problem with Anthology. Not enough guest willing to pay these prices for cruise food. Yes, EJ’s food is excellent, but it is still cruise food. 

140 Euros for the dinner and 60 for the wine but agreed, still too pricey!

[joseph123]

Would be nice to have an Italian dining option onboard, especially since Explora is an Italian line, however the price pp seems exorbitant. Do other luxury lines charge as much for their ala carte dining venues?

[Lenbro1944]

Looks like it’s not too unlike Anthology but with an Italian twist. Also they have addressed the cost to a more reasonable level. I don’t know where you can get an 8 course tasting menu at a Michelin star restaurant for 140 Euros. I certainly would use my ship board credits to eat there.

[Hlitner]

4 hours ago, PrivateIdaho said:

200€ pp up charge? Probably still gonna be a pass for us. Would rather experience a local Michelin ⭐️ restaurant while in port. Don’t really see how this change addresses the problem with Anthology. Not enough guest willing to pay these prices for cruise food. Yes, EJ’s food is excellent, but it is still cruise food. 

While I do not want to defend Anthology, when we dined in that venue it was anything but "cruise food."  Our dinner was prepared by a well known 2* Chef and she prepared a multi-course meal similar to her tasting menu at the NY restaurant.  We did not think the wine matching (which we were told were wines chosen by the chef) was up the quality we would have had at her NY Restaurant (Aquavit).    Looking at her current NYC tasting menu, it is priced at $175 pp with the wine pairing an additional $145.  So doing some math, dinner for two at Aquavit, with the tasting menu and wine pairing would be $640 per couple + $56 in NYC taxes + $140 tip (many would tip more) for a total $836 (dinner for two).  That is more than double what we paid on EJ.

 

Hank

[cruisingxpert]

5 hours ago, joseph123 said:

Would be nice to have an Italian dining option onboard, especially since Explora is an Italian line, however the price pp seems exorbitant. Do other luxury lines charge as much for their ala carte dining venues?

The price is similar to what Oceania charges for La Reserve which was $180 including grats but includes the wine.  Oceania Dom Perignon La Reserve dinner was $299pp plus 20% gratuity but I read recently that is now $399 plus grats

[Stickman1990]

7 hours ago, joseph123 said:

Would be nice to have an Italian dining option onboard, especially since Explora is an Italian line, however the price pp seems exorbitant. Do other luxury lines charge as much for their ala carte dining venues?

Well guess what - Anthology seems to have transitioned to a menu prepared by the head chef of Explora, Franck Garanger, now - still carries a hefty surcharge but it’s an in house menu now  

 

[sea bright]

On the Nova, Silversea charges 190 pp  for the Chef's Table. This includes 2  paired cocktails and a red and a white wine. La Dame (French) is 160 pp including basic wine. 90 pp for premium paired wines, 120 pp for premium paired champagnes.

[joseph123]

Thanks for posting the menu. Not to my taste especially at that price, but to each their own.

[Waltershipman]

1 hour ago, Stickman1990 said:

Well guess what - Anthology seems to have transitioned to a menu prepared by the head chef of Explora, Franck Garanger, now - still carries a hefty surcharge but it’s an in house menu now  

 

Excellent 

[Stickman1990]

More details on the new menu and offering at Anthology

 

https://explorajourneys.com/au/en/life-on-explora/dining/anthology

[Sololux]

I would happily chose this menu.

[breadandbutter]

It's still too expensive, they could at least include the wine and cocktails.

[Nunagoras]

Anthology seems to have been a fail, but they don't really know what to do with the hardware. Perhaps too sophisticated for an AI venue or no time to remove it entirely in favor of a less sophisticated venue, then this mixed model that, JIMHO will not work any better than Anthology.

 

If I were them, I'd just remove those tables from Anthology; put them on the bar area at Med YC that is always empty on any YT video showing that area and move those bar chairs and tables to Anthology making it just another bar area. Maybe some technical or design flaws preventing it?...

[johng75370]

1 hour ago, Nunagoras said:

Anthology seems to have been a fail, but they don't really know what to do with the hardware.

Turn it into a library, something the ship is missing.  

[NekoChef]

we are cruising in January for the first time and are excited to try the new Anthology(we were also excited to try the old format as well). Menu seems great and price is also competitive to great as compared to tasting menus before all the recent price increases.

 

i would’ve also supported turning it into a non-upcharge Italian restaurant.

 

I would be disappointed if they turned it into a non-restaurant space.